Browse Honduras Daily Stories

The president of Honduras's National Association of Industrialists says Congress should approve an energy-sector reform bill quickly, with a 20-year validity period, arguing that depoliticizing the issue and pursuing it on technical grounds will unlock investment and jobs.

A National Party congressman says proposed reforms to Honduras's energy law aim to rescue the state utility ENEE from financial collapse—it loses about 1.5 billion lempiras monthly—and denies the measure includes privatization, calling reports of a selloff false.

Roberto Díaz del Valle, a leading hotel operator, says rising electricity tariffs are squeezing operating costs and threatening hotel revenues, while warning that reforms to energy law alone will not solve ENEE's crisis.

The state electricity company has scheduled power cuts across five departments on July 10 for grid maintenance, with outages lasting between two and eight hours depending on the region.

Congresswoman Marixa Julín (PINU-SD) said Honduras's power crisis demands reform, noting that companies owe the state power utility nearly 20 billion lempiras ($800 million) and that outdated contracts dating to the 1990s energy crisis must be renegotiated to protect consumers and reduce losses.

Former ENEE chief Erick Tejada accused the current utility head of signaling a government drive to privatize Honduras's electricity sector, citing France, Costa Rica, and other nations as examples of successful public energy systems.

The organization Sendas warned that Honduras's planned electricity-sector reform needs a dedicated, autonomous administrator with real decision-making power to implement structural changes, noting that fragmented responsibility across multiple agencies and weak institutional continuity have hindered past efforts.

Frequent blackouts across Honduras are causing daily losses to small and medium-sized businesses, with some municipalities reporting up to 14 outages daily and Congress stalled on energy reforms.

The national utility ENEE will cut power on July 9 across parts of Colón, Cortés, El Paraíso, and Olancho for seven to nine hours of distribution-network maintenance, affecting residential, commercial, industrial, and rural zones.

The private-sector business council estimates that power outages—averaging 21,200 hours of unmet demand annually—cost Honduras about L1.2 billion (roughly $48 million) per year in lost productivity, equipment damage, and generator expenses, while the government pushes stalled reforms to strengthen the state electricity utility.

Edgar Aguilar of the Association for a More Just Society (ASJ) says proposed reforms to rescue the state power company ENEE lack fundamental components, while the ASJ has separately presented its own proposals to restructure ENEE's debt and reduce its financial burden.

Honduras's state power utility ENEE has announced widespread outages on July 7 affecting Colón, Santa Bárbara, Cortés, Copán, Francisco Morazán, and Olancho departments between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for scheduled maintenance work.

Defensores de Honduras called on the government and Congress to treat the end of TPS for Honduran migrants and a nearly 12% electricity rate hike as national emergencies requiring urgent policy responses.

A think tank says Honduras's state power utility loses about 15 billion lempiras (roughly $600 million) a year, blamed on political interference rather than operational needs, as Congress debates an overhaul bill opposed by some lawmakers who fear weakening the company's market role.

Economist Amparo Canales warns that rising electricity rates risk setting off cascading inflation and further increasing the cost of living for Hondurans.

Amparo Canales, former president of Honduras's College of Economists, says energy reforms will require foreign investment and must avoid politicization, while improving the state power company ENEE's efficiency and protecting its assets from privatization.

About 400,000 subscribers of Honduras's state electricity company ENEE owe more than L12.5 billion (roughly $500 million) in unpaid bills, according to the utility.

Consumer advocates project that adjustments to electricity tariffs will increase the price of Honduras's basic food basket by about 800 lempiras (roughly $32).

Economist and former congressman Aníbal Cálix said public investment moved too slowly in the first half of 2026 and called for structural reforms at ENEE, the state power utility, to improve its financial performance and grid reliability.

A Libre congressman argues that collecting millions owed by large corporations to the state electricity utility ENEE would shore up its finances and make privatization unnecessary, and has called for public disclosure of the major delinquent accounts.

Former Energy Secretary Erick Tejada says Honduras's state power company needs eight years to recover from deep structural problems, and warns that the government's no-subsidy policy is pushing electricity rate increases onto ordinary Hondurans.

Congress suspended debate on a proposed energy modernization law after the Liberal Party and social sectors demanded more time and transparency, citing concerns over potential rate increases and the future of the state electricity company ENEE.

ENEE manager Guillermo Peña Panting disclosed that the state electric utility's largest debtor is the government and its institutions, which owe approximately L14 billion of the utility's L18 billion in total accounts receivable.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Honduras called for broader, technically-grounded public debate on proposed electrical-sector reforms, emphasizing that any modernization must preserve ENEE's state ownership and protect Honduran households and businesses from service disruptions and high costs.

Honduras's state utility ENEE increased residential, commercial, and industrial electricity rates by 12.48% effective July 1 through September 30, raising monthly bills by roughly that percentage across all customer segments.

The International Monetary Fund is tracking Honduras's efforts to reform its electric sector, with pending actions still needed to address problems at the state-owned utility ENEE.

José Azcona, a Liberal Party engineer and former congressman, argues that the government's proposed restructuring of the state power utility into three private-market companies would effectively privatize the electricity market and raise costs for poor consumers, though he says ENEE can be rescued without direct privatization.

The national power utility ENEE will cut electricity on July 2 to multiple zones across Choluteca, Valle, and Francisco Morazán departments from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for scheduled network maintenance and upgrades.

Carlos Hernández, director of the advocacy group ASJ, warns that the state power utility ENEE has received 46 billion lempiras over four years while carrying a debt exceeding 100 billion lempiras, and continues to suffer from high losses, unfocused subsidies, and electricity theft.

ENEE has announced power cuts on Wednesday, July 1 across multiple zones in Honduras; specific times and affected areas are listed on the utility's website.